Performance Optimizer is an extension available in the ePO Software Manager that collects metrics about the health of the ePO environment. In some circumstances, you might need to obtain a MER (Minimum Escalation Requirements) file when a specific metric has reached a threshold. The MER is then used to analyze why the ePO environment reached that threshold. Use the instructions in this article to configure an automated approach to collect the MER file.
NOTE: In Performance Optimizer 2.2.0 and later, you can run the MER tool as the action for an ePO Automatic Response. See the
Performance Optimizer 2.2.0 Product Guide for more details.
The following components are used to automatically collect the MER file:
- Performance Optimizer ePO extension - provides the metric collection and event generation criteria
- Automatic Responses feature in ePO - provides the ability to respond to an event based on a filtered threshold value
- A Powershell script - generates a unique file name for the MER output file
- The MER executable tool
To configure an automated approach to collect the
MER file, follow these steps:
- On the ePO server, create a new folder such as C:\Tools.
- Download the Windows MER executable from: https://support.mcafee.com/webmer.
- Copy MER.exe to the folder you created.
- Open Notepad to create a new file.
- Copy the Powershell script text from the Powershell script example section below.
- Paste the script text into Notepad and save the file as RunMER.ps1 in the folder you created.
- Verify that you have the following two files in the folder C:\Tools:
- Log on to the ePO server.
- Navigate to Menu, Configuration, Registered Executables.
- Click New Registered Executable.
- Name the registered executable Powershell.
- Set the path to:
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\PowerShell.exe
NOTE: This path is the default. Ensure that this path is the correct one to the Powershell executable on your ePO server.
- Click Save.
- Navigate to Menu, Automation, Automatic Responses.
- Create a new Automatic Response or edit an existing Automatic Response.
NOTE: For more information about how to create and edit Automatic Responses, see the ePolicy Orchestrator Product Guide for your product version.
- On the Filter tab, select from the available properties and specify a threshold value.
NOTE: Ensure that your threshold value represents the condition for which you want to capture the MER file. To avoid using too much disk space, be careful you do not generate too many MER files.
- On the Aggregation tab, review and configure the available options.
NOTE: It is important to configure the Throttling options to ensure that the MER is not collected too frequently. If the collection is too frequent, it can affect the performance of the ePO server.
- On the Actions tab, select Run External Command.
- Select the Registered Executable based on the name specified in step 11.
- In the Arguments text box, type the following value:
-File C:\Tools\RunMER.ps1
- Click Save.
- Ensure that the Automatic Response is enabled.
A new MER file is now generated each time the Automatic Response is invoked, which happens when the Performance Optimizer server tasks run and collect data. During the data collection, an event object is generated. If the event object's properties match the filter specified in step 16 and the throttling options in step 17, the Automatic Response is triggered.
NOTE: After you complete the troubleshooting process, disable the Automatic Response because the MER files can use much disk space. Or, reconfigure the Automatic Response to send a text message or email instead of generating a new MER file.
Powershell script example:
### Begin Powershell script
# Todo: Edit this variable to have the folder location where the MER.exe is located. The MER can be obtained from https://support.mcafee.com/webmer
$merExecutableLocation = "C:\Tools\MER.exe"
# Todo: Edit this variable to have the folder location where the MER output file should be written to.
$outputLocation = "C:\Tools\"
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format o | foreach {$_ -replace ":", "."}
$outputFileName = "ePO_MER_$($timestamp).tgz"
Invoke-Expression "$($merExecutableLocation) /detected /silent /save $($outputLocation)$($outputFileName)"
### End Powershell script 
